Our Week in the Forest...

This week has been extremely exciting for children, educators and parents alike! It’s Stay and Play week, meaning that some parents have had the opportunity to spend some lovely time with their children in the forest. This week our main themes have been music making and Little Red Riding Hood - and what fun we have had!

It was a lovely start to the week at Paradise, our children helped the parents understand the rules of the forest. After snack, our Little Forest Folkers were eager to show their parents what they get up to at Paradise! Some went fishing with the nets and made water systems with the gulleys, others were happy showing off their balancing skills or used the clay to make magic wands!

On arriving at the Windmill on Tuesday there was a mystery to be solved. A basket, laden with bread and apples had been left in the middle of the log circle. But who did it belong to? A note gave us further clues… the note warned ‘Little Red’ not to stray from the path - we all knew who it was now! ‘Follow the trail of daffodils’ the note warned, so the children jumped up from their logs and scampered after the daffodils strewn along the path. They couldn’t believe their eyes when they found Grandma’s cottage - with the Big Bad Wolf inside in Grandma’s bed!! What excitement!

Another theme for the week has been the music corner. Using the logs from the rocket ship a lovely circle was laid out to encourage an airy but enclosed space. A selection of instruments were laid out for the children to engage with; a drum, tambourine, rain shakers, jingle bells. The children were very eager to test out the instruments on their own, but over time they started to play rhythms together which developed into songs they knew. More and more children gathered together with pots and pans being brought over from the mud kitchen. With the help from some expert musicians, songs like the seasonal Jingle Bells, Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep and more were sung around the forest. The music corner is something that we wish to elaborate further in the near future - providing a more set out space for the children to revisit and develop their skills, and the introduction of more complex instruments.

It really has been wonderful to have all of you join us in the forest this week. It has been great fun and your children really enjoyed showing you their space! We hope that you enjoyed it too! Have a lovely weekend!